On 25 November 2022,  the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Asia and Head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), Natalia Gherman, participated in the international conference: “Combating the Violence against Vulnerable Women and Girls. Strengthening Mechanisms of Access to Justice”, jointly organized by the Mejlis of the  Republic of Kazakhstan, UN Women and OSCE. 

The event, which brought together women parliamentarians, experts and civil society activists from all Central Asian states as well as representatives of National Human Rights Institutions from Turkey, Azerbaijan and Mongolia, marked the beginning of the annual international 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (UNiTE) campaign.

It was also organized within the framework of the Central Asia Women Leaders’ Caucus (WLC) launched in 2020 with the support of UNRCCA and UNDP, to boost political, economic and social participation of women in Central Asia.

In her remarks, SRSG encouraged Central Asian States to adopt comprehensive, long-term policies addressing root causes and enhancing capacity of state and non-state actors to prevent, respond and eliminate violence against women and girls.  She stressed the key role of civil society in working with victims of violence and communities, raising public awareness and implementation of legislation and policies combating gender-based violence at the local level.

Commending the role of the Central Asia Women Leaders’ Dialogue in strengthening regional co-operation on the whole range of gender equality issues, SRSG Gherman called on the platform to leverage its influence and step up advocacy effort to promote effective policy responses to gender-based violence at the national and regional level.

The conference discussed causes of GBV and challenges to implementation of effective  policies combating gender-based violence in general and access to justice for victims of GBV in particular. It concluded with adoption of recommendations on strengthening regional co-operation between the National Parliaments, National Human Rights Institutions and civil society organizations in this domain.